All posts by G. Gordon Gritty

Black Lips Fall Tour?!

Apparently, just apparently, the Black Lips will be touring the United States again starting October 28 in North Carolina. Now it would be kind of really cool if they decided to keep going north all the way to Cambridge, Massachusetts to play the Middle East downstairs again in November. But it would be even cooler if they just zipped on over here in early August before embarking on a tour in Europe. It actually makes more sense for them to zip over here than to just peace out from Atlanta.

Boston to Vorarlberg, Austria: 3811.3 mi
Atlanta to Vorarlberg, Austria: 4125.8 mi

That extra 314.5 miles could be a real bitch. So if they just play Monday, August 10 at the Middle East downstairs, they could play an awesome sold out show and make some good dough on top of that selling more t-shirts and 200 Million Thousand CDs.

But, if for whatever reason, the above is not possible…the November thing sounds pretty cool. We Boston die-hard Black Lips fans would much appreciate another show imminently!

Glen Maganzini

New Babyshambles Album!

Pete Doherty has spoken about the next Babyshambles album, which he says is close to being written.

In an interview with French radio station Inter on July 6, Doherty revealed that Babyshambles‘ guitarist Mik Whitnall is writing all of the music for the album, leaving him to focus on the lyrics.

“Even as we speak, at this very moment in London somewhere, Mr Michael Whitnall – my erstwhile guitarist and songwriting partner in Babyshambles – is getting the demos together for our new album,” Doherty explained in the interview…. – NME

That’s very cool, but Babyshambles aren’t quite the Libertines. I’m still hoping for my fifth (previously #1) favorite band of all-time to make a comeback.

My Greatest Concert Experiences!

The Best
1. March 2009 – Black Lips/Gentleman Jesse & His Men/Mean Creek – Grade: A+
2. May 2009 – King Khan & The Shrines/Mark Sultan/Homosexuals – Grade: A+
3. April 2009 – No Age/The Beets/Lemonade – Grade: A+
4. September 2009 – Walkmen/Here We Go Magic/The Dig – A+

Amazing
5. August 2008 – Radiohead/Grizzly Bear – Grade: A
5. September 2009 – The Rifles/Mike Fiore – Grade: A
6. August 2009 – Arctic Monkeys/Modey Lemon – Grade: A
7. May 2009 – Animal Collective/Grouper – Grade: A
8. September 2009 – Pains of Being Pure At Heart/Depreciation Guild/Cymbals Eat Guitars – Grade: A
9. July 2009 – Head Automatica/Cubic Zarconia – Great: A
10. July 2009 – Handsome Furs/Dri/Cinnamon Band – Grade: A
11. November 2008 – No Age/Soft Circle/Silk Flowers – Grade: A

Great
12. January 2008 – Editors/Hot Hot Heat/Louis XIV – Grade: A-
13. June 2009 – Sunset Rubdown/Elfin Saddle/Witchies – Grade: A-
14. July 2008 – No Age/High Places/Abe Vigoda/Ppalmm – Grade: A-

Continue reading My Greatest Concert Experiences!

Dell Sucks…A Problem With PM Corps.

This isn’t really a thorough, ground breaking analysis but…profit maximizing corporations suck. There is no excuse and here’s why: Dell, maybe you own a computer made by these guys, utilizes a strategy called 3-7. It’s pretty simple, three out of ten computers are efficiently produced and are expected to be immune from any major problems. The other seven computers will be prone to problems and will require some kind of repair work. This business model works out wonderfully for Dell because people who encounter a computer that requires repair will send it back for service (back to India where the repair will be incredibly cheap) OR buy another computer (Dell hopes it’s one of their “3” models that costs only $500) all together, figuring it’s too much of a hassle to wait for a repair. Dell doesn’t mind repairing computers or assisting people in their difficulties. Their cheaply manufactured products will make them a shit load of money in sales and cost them only slightly in expenses and production. This kind of profiting off of bad things happening is not uncommon. It’s been around for years — the automotive industry has been a consistent example over the years of purposely making shoddily and unsafe parts and accessories. That’s because the cost of repair (paying damages to victims of an “accident” OFTEN subsidized by the government through TAXPAYER monies) is minutely important relative to profit, which will always be there. It can and has been argued that many industries make money off of bad things happening. And honestly I don’t feel like I am in the business to propose a lasting solution to this terrible problem. Social business is a start, perhaps most feasible in an industrial age like ours.

Boston’s Best Concert Venues

Middle East Downstairs – A+ – Capacity: 575
My favorite concert venue! It might be that all the bands I’ve seen here have been amazing, but it’s the intimate nature of the basement (and the hot hipster chicks) that makes me always leave Nabil’s premise drenched in sweat smiling.

Paradise Rock ClubA – Capacity: 650
A truly awesome place to see a concert.  There is enough room for rocking out in front of the stage (besides one annoying pole), enough room to just sit or stand around and watch, and enough room on the stage to fit a seven person band.

Continue reading Boston’s Best Concert Venues

Reviews: Sunset Rubdown (6/11/09) & Handsome Furs (7/6/09)

Sunset Rubdown – Middle East Downstairs – June 11
1. Empty threats of little lord
2. Idiot heart
3. Black swan
4. Taming of the hands
5. Silver moons
6. Coming to at dawn
7. You go on ahead
8. Paper lace
9. Winged wicked things
10. Snakes got a leg
11. Dragon
12. Nightengale/December song
——-
13. Apollo and the buffalo…
14. Mending of the gown


An hour and a half filled with a mix of old and new, down-tempo and up-tempo, the genius that is Spencer Krug, and epicness. Sunset Rubdown gave one of the best efforts that I’ve seen from a band.

Continue reading Reviews: Sunset Rubdown (6/11/09) & Handsome Furs (7/6/09)

4th of July

Today was a celebration of our lack of freedom! So while we appear to be very free, we really aren’t. Actually, the founding fathers would probably be pissed and ashamed. We haven’t really come a long way at all. The USA PATRIOT Act is still on the books…I think that’s enough.